Corn-harvester



(No Model.) I 2'SheetsSheet 1.

A. B. DENHAM.

CORN HARVESTER.

No. 596,143. Patented Dec! 28,1897.

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(No Model.) 2 Shee t-Sheet 2; A. B. DENHAM.

CORN HARVESTER.

Patented Dec. 28, 1897.

UNITED STATES PATENT @FFECE.

ALBERT DENHAM, OF OOWLING, ILLINOIS.

CORN-HARVESTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 596,143, dated December28, 1897.

' Application filed February 13, 1896- Serial No. 579,159- (No model.) i

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALBERT B. DENHAM, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cowling, in the county of Wabash and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Corn-Harvesters; and Ido declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

My invention has relation to improvements in corn-harvesters; and theobject is to provide a machine of the kind named and for the purposeintended which is simple in construction, efficient in operation, andwhich will deliver the out stalks of corn to racks mounted on the frameor carriage of the machine to be dumped or thrown therefrom inaccumulations readyto be bound into bundles or shocks.

I have fully and clearly illustrated my invention in the accompanyingdrawings, forming apart of this specification, and wherein- Figure 1 isa plan view of the complete machine. Fig. 2 is a side View of themachine. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective of one of the cutters andassociated gearing removed from the machine. Fig. 4 is an end view ofthe lever mechanism. for operating the fodder-- racks. I Fig. 5 is adetail perspective showing one of the floor-plates and guards.

A designates the frame of the machine, composed of substantial sidepieces 1 1 crosspieces 2 2 secured to the ends of the side pieces, anintermediate cross-piece 3, adjacent to the front cross-piece 2 and acenterpiece 4, having its ends mortised in the rear cross-piece 2 andintermediate cross-piece 3, substantially as shown. The ends of thefront cross-pieces 2 and 3 extend beyond the side pieces 1 1 and havesecured thereon floors or plates 5 5 the forward ends of which projectforward beyond the cross-piece 2 and are recessed out, as at 6, theinclined edges of the recesses serving to direct the standing stalks tothe action of the cutters and to hold the stalks from being knocked overby the force of the cutters. On each of the plates 5 5 is mounted aguard 7, which is formed to stand over and in front of thecutter-gearing, and has its base secured to the projections of theplates and recessed out to conform to the shape of the recesses toprotect the edges of the recessed parts of the plates, substantially asshown. Across the frame at about the middle thereof is suitablyjournaled an axle 8, the bearings being secured to the side pieces ofthe frame, and on the projecting ends or spindles of the axle 8 areloosely mounted ground-wheels 9 9 held to .turn the axle by means of aratchet 10, fixed rigidly on the end of the axle, and a springactuatedpawl 11, pivotally supported on the hub of the wheels to engage theratchet, so that when the wheels rotate by the progres sion of themachine the axle will be rotated to communicate motion to the mechanism,and so that when the machine is backed the wheels Willturn on the axlewithout revolving it. On the axle S, at or near its middle, is rigidlymounted a large sprocket-wheel 12, on which is arranged thedriving-chain 13, running on a small sprocket-wheel 14. on a shaft 15,as will be more fully specified. 011 the floor-plates 5 5 are securedbrackets 16 the forward ends of which overhang the floors and have onthem substantial blocks 17, in which the arbors or shafts of the cuttingmechanism have their bearings. In the block 17 is journaled the shaft15, carrying the small sprocket-wheel 14 and having adjacent to its endsbevel gear-wheels 18 18 which mesh with bevel gear-wheels 19-19 onvertical arbors or shafts 20 20 having theirlower ends journaled orbearingin suitable step-bearings 21 in the front cross-piece of theframe and having their upper ends suitably journaled in bearings formedin the under face of the blocks 17. On the shafts 20 20 respectively,aremounted rotary circular cutters 22, the teeth of which project into therecesses in the floor-pieces, and are arranged in their rotation to cutoff the standing corn. On the Gross-piece 2 are mounted and securedbrackets 23, in which are journaled upright shafts 24., carrying ontheir upper ends a hub 25, in which are secured four radially arrangedand projecting arms 26, as shown, and on the shafts within the bracketsis a gear wheel or pinion 27, which is meshed by.

a worm 28 on the shaft 15, so that as the machine is moved forward thearms of the reels will encounter the stalks, and as they are severed orcut off by the cutters they will be thrown back onto the fodder-racks.On each of the side sills or pieces of the frame, near the rear end ofthe machine, is mounted a bracket-arm 29, carrying a bearing E29 on itsupper end, arranged in alinement with the bearing-blocks 17 at the frontof the frame, and journaled in the bearings in said arms and in theblocks are oppositely-arranged parallel bars 30, provided with suitablearms 31, arranged at right angles to the shaft or bar, with theirlongest portions extending outward, and the arms being curved upward, asshown, to form racks on which the fodder or cut stalks are thrown ordeposited by the reels at the front of the machine. At the rear ends ofthe bars 30 is secured an arm 32, to the lower end of which is pivotallyjoined a connecting-rod 33, one end' of which has connection to thelower end of a lever 34: and the other of which has connection to thesaid lever at the same distance above the fulcrum thereof. The lever 3ais fulcrumed to a standard 35, mounted on the frame of the machineadjacent to the drivers seat 36, and the standard is formed with asector-rack 37, in which a pawl 38 engages, so that the fodder-racks canbe set to any desired position to receive the cut stalks, and then byworking the lever they maybe rocked and dumped to deposit the bundles oraccumulations at the side of the machine to be bound up.

To the front cross-piece of the machine is suitably clipped andsupported the shafts S, having secured to the cross piece 31, on whichthe singletree is held, a bar 3?, the inner end of which is providedwith a series of holes 32Qwhich engage with a screw-threaded bolt 33taking in a standard 3%, secured on the front cross-piece, whereby theheight of the cutters is regulated by the elevation given to the shaftsby the adjustment of the bar 32*.

The operation of the machine may be stated as follows: The machine isdrawn by the horse between two standing rows of corn, and the knivesbeing rotated by the movement of the ground-Wheels and the connectionsto the shaft the stalks are cutoff, and as they are cut the arms of thereels turn them back onto the racks, and when the accumulations aredeemed sufficient the driver uses the lever to dump them over to theside of the machine.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-

A corn-harvester comprising a suitable carriage, oppositely-arrangedbrackets secured on the carriage, bearing-blocks 17 carried by the saidbrackets, a shaft 15 journaled in said bearing-blocks, and provided withworms, brackets 23 mounted on the carriage, vertt cal reel-shaftsjournaled in the said brackets, reels on the reel-shafts, beveledpinions 1S, 1S on the ends of the shaft 15,vertical shafts 20, havingtheir upper ends journaled in the bearing-blocks 17, circular cutters onthe shafts 20, 20 recessed plates 5, 5 guards having their basesrecessed to aline with the recesses on said plates 5, 5 and to stand infront of the said pinions, means to rotate the shaft 15, fodder-racksjournaled at one end in brackets 29, and the other ends in thebearing-blocks 17, and a centrally-pivoted lever, links connected to thecranks on the ends of the fodder-racks and to the lever at pointsopposite to its pivot, whereby both racks are simultaneously operated,substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

ALBERT B. DENI'IAM.

Witnesses:

'JHos. STONE, M. F. FLnMMIN-o.

